Game of Thrones season 8 premiere slays show's own viewer record
There were more watchers than there are undead in the White Walker army.
We all tuned in for the dragon action.
All previous episodes of Game of Thrones must bend the knee to their new queen, the season 8 premiere. HBO's slashing swords and sorcery hit delivered 17.4 million viewers for the first episode of the final season on Sunday.
That gaudy number includes live television viewers combined with fans streaming the show on HBO Go and HBO Now. The 17.4 million viewers helped the episode, titled "Winterfell," beat out the season 7 finale, which logged 16.9 million watchers.
The premiere isn't done conquering eyeballs yet.
"That number will build and could eventually surpass the viewing average last year of 33 million per episode," Quentin Schaffer, executive vice president of corporate communications for HBO, said.
Game of Thrones looks ready to go out in a blaze of dragon-breath glory, lighting up ratings and flinging fiery Bran Stark memes as it flies. Only five more episodes to go.
